XenData Synced Private Cloud Archives Object Storage S3 Interface for On-Premise Active Archives

XenData, Inc. announces availability of an object storage S3 interface for its entire range of on-premise active archives that provide long-term secure storage on LTO tape cartridges.

This transforms the company’s archive systems that scale to 100+PB into private cloud data repositories that compete with public cloud storage services such as AWS Glacier and the Archive Tier of Azure object storage. The S3 interface is enabled by a software upgrade.

Global Sync: Files are synchronized using the cloud database,
requiring minimal bandwidth because only stub file representations are synced.

Global Sync: When a stub file is read, it triggers a direct
accelerated file transfer between locations.

For active archives with capacities above 100TB, storage systems based on LTO tape libraries have a TCO that is lower than public cloud object storage. Most data stored worldwide is infrequently accessed but it is retained because it still has value. An S3 enabled the company’s LTO archive provides restore times of around 2 minutes which is suitable for most infrequently accessed data repositories. And when compared to AWS Glacier or Azure Archive Tier object storage, the firm’s private cloud solution provides performance at a lower cost, free of any egress charges.

The S3 interface allows remote access to a firm’s LTO archive from anywhere worldwide using secure HTTPS. It also supports replication of one LTO archive to a second LTO system at another location which can even be on a different continent.

In addition to the S3 interface, the company launches Global Sync, a synchronization service that links multiple S3 enabled LTO archives, creating a single global file system accessible anywhere. As soon as a file is archived to LTO at one location, it becomes available as a stub file within the global file system. When a user makes a change by writing, overwriting or deleting a file, that change is propagated to all locations. This provides a consistent up-to-date set of files across the entire distributed organization.

When files are restored from another location, they are transferred directly using peer to peer multi-threaded HTTPS which delivers secure fast file transfers. The Global Sync service uses a cloud database, but the files themselves are never stored in public cloud object storage, avoiding cloud storage and egress fees. Furthermore, because the new service only synchronizes file system metadata: it requires minimal Internet bandwidth.

Dr Phil Storey, CEO, XenData, commented: “Our new private cloud solutions keep the attractive aspects of LTO on-premises archives which include cost effective scalability and adds the ease of distributed access which has traditionally been associated with public cloud storage.“

Resources:
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Video: LTO Active Archives